IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CRAP

It's beginning to look a lot like crap ...

... At least to us more perceptive people. Among the barfly crowd, however -- the loud-mouth/sloppy drunk/pickled-giblet/bad-breath partisans of conspicuous indifference, self-important avoidance, and fruit fly-sized attention spans -- everything still seems to be giving off the usual acrid stench of normality & predictability. Awash in oceans of beer and comforting gobs of artery-busting animal fat, their petrified gonads abnormally stimulated by today's artificial excitement of the "Super Bowl" ... under such circumstances, what could possibly be wrong with the world?

Yes, it's beginning to look a lot like crap -- all the narrow-minded, pop-culture based misdirection of energy and brain-power notwithstanding. From the Alito disaster to the impending war on Iran; from the dictatorial ambitions of the Pinhead in Chief and his Gestapo-minded wire pullers, to Governor Schickelgruber and his wing-nut plans to strangle California with a Radical Right straightjacket; toss into this steaming sump of 21st Century sewer spew such original Sacramento Valley contributions as gridlock, smog, and a Blockbuster Video store on every corner, and the cheerful optimism of modern life tends to -- uh -- nosedive a bit. No amount of over-drinking and broadcast travesties like football can alter the fact that we, as Americans, are chin-deep in the doo-doo of dissolution and destruction -- but try telling that to my compatriots in the brewpubs, my fellow seekers of the Manifest Truth At The Bottom Of Every Beer Glass. What a bunch of stupid fucking assholes, if you'll pardon the expression. How in the hell did I ever become associated with these ridiculous wastes of DNA?

As always, a drink seems to be in order about now.